Rare Snow Storm Blankets Southern California

Two people were killed as storm-driven winds blasted Avalon Harbor, and dozens of motorists were stranded overnight on mountain roads in Los Angeles and Orange counties, as vicious and cold winds raked Southern California today.

A Harbor Patrol officer from the City of Avalon, and another man, were found dead as boats washed onto rocks at the north-facing harbor on Santa Catalina Island.

A city spokesman said the patrolman was in his 30s, and was pinned between a boat and rocks. His name was not immediately released, as recovery operations continued late into the morning.

It was not clear how the other man died, but his body was found in the water as the small harbor took a head-on slam from gale force winds blowing across the channel.

In the mountains, motorists in at least two high-elevation areas spent the night in their cars and were still being rescued at midmorning.

On Ortega Highway, east of San Juan Capistrano, Riverside County Search and Rescue crews were headed to the road’s summit, where dozens of cars were trapped in snow. A helicopter was being used to mark which vehicles had people in them, and which had been abandoned.

At the far-eastern end of Los Angeles County, people in about 50 vehicles were shepherded into an emergency shelter overnight when the parking lot at the Mount Baldy Ski Area became a sheet of ice, lashed by 50-mile-per- hour winds and snow. As the sun rose today, four-wheel drive trucks were being sent up the steep canyon road to bring people down to safety.

Calls began coming in from stranded motorists around 7 p.m. Tuesday, as drivers found increasing difficulty negotiating the 10 percent grade and tight hairpin bends on the descent from the ski lifts, he said. The vehicle occupants were finally removed by 4:45 a.m., but the vehicles remained, San Bernardino County Fire Department spokesman Ryan Beckers said.

Search and rescue helicopters were checking cars stuck in the snow on California 74, the Ortega Highway, in the Santa Ana Mountains of Orange County. Some vehicles reportedly were abandoned and others held persons sheltering inside, and were being marked by a helicopter for ground crews to help.

In Malibu, traffic lights on Pacific Coast Highway were blacked out at 7:30 a.m. An official National Weather Service wind gauge on a mountain above Malibu clocked a gust of 78 miles per hour overnight.

And while some low-elevation areas of inland Southern California got heavy snow, this latest winter storm was fairly dry in the mountains north of Los Angeles. Only a scant amount of snow accumulated along Interstate 5 at the Grapevine, and the Acton area along the Antelope Valley (14) Freeway did not get any significant accumulation.

The National Weather Service this morning scaled back a number of dire warnings. In the San Gabriel Mountains, a winter storm warning was cancelled early after all the snowfall left Los Angeles County, moving east. It was replaced by a high wind warning, which reflects the expectation of 58-mile-per- hour gusts and was scheduled to last until noon.

A high wind warning was cancelled for the San Fernando and San Gabriel valleys by sunrise, but remained posted for the Santa Monica Mountains through noon.

In Orange County, a wind advisory was scheduled to be in effect until 4 p.m. today.

The cold low-pressure system out of Canada slid into the region late Tuesday.

Since 10 p.m. Tuesday, the NWS recorded wind gusts of 70 mph in Chilao, 63 mph at Warm Springs, 57 mph at Whitaker Peak, and 55 mph in Sandberg -- all four in the San Gabriel Mountains -- 62 mph at Newhall Pass, 39 mph in Malibu Canyon and 36 mph at Lake Palmdale.

The weather service warned that the wind event would have a widespread impact not just in the mountains and valleys but also over a wide area of metropolitan Los Angeles. The same was said for the cold, with “several hours of temperatures between 29 and 32 degrees possible” tonight and into New Year’s Day.

“The cold air mass will bring freezing temperatures to much of the region through New Year’s Day Thursday, including the Rose Parade through New Year’s Day Thursday,” warned the NWS statement. Forecasters noted that freezing temperatures can kill pets, livestock, crops and other types of vegetation.

• City News Service
• Photo Credit: Twitter user julia ‏@nojuliastop